demography

• demography


  study of human populations

  births, deaths, immigration, emigration
• natural population change


  refers to changes due to births and deaths
• birth rate

  number of births per thousand of population
• total fertility rate


  average number of children women will have during childbearing years (15-44)
• general fertility rate 


  number of live births per 1000 women during child bearing age
• has the uk birth rate been increasing or declining

  since 1900 it has been declining - resulting in smaller families
• baby boomers

  1. increase of birth rate during WW1 and WW2
  2. increased in 1960s as living standards rose
  3. increased in 2000s older women delayed having children
• reasons for decline in birth and fertility rates

  • changing ambitions - career focused
  • divorce
  • child centredness
  • contraception
  • financial reasons - children as economic liabilities
• consequences of falling birth and fertility rate

  • changes in family structure
  • dependancy ratio
  • public spending - less schools, child benefits
• death rate


  number of deaths per 1000 of the population
• are death rates increasing or declining


  declining

  e.g 1900 - 19 per 1000

  2019 - 9.1 per 1000
• infant mortality rate 


  deaths under one year of age per live births
• reasons for decline in birth rates

  • medical improvements
  • divorce
  • decline in marriage
  • changing attitudes
  • ageing population
• is life expectancy increasing or declining

  increasing

  1901 - men = 48.5 years

  2012 - men = 79 years
• when was NHS created

  1948 due to Beveridge report

  planned to remake Britain after the war

  wanted to make free health care
• harper


  argued reduction of people smoking led to fall in death rates
• is average age of population increasing or decreasing

  increasing

  1971 - 34.1 years

  2020 - 40.4 years
• ageing population


  increase in the average age of the population

  greater population of older people
• reasons for ageing population

  • increased life expectancy
  • low birth rates
  • low death rates
  • low infant mortality rate
• positive effects of ageing population

  • older people more healthier than in the past
  • older able to live longer and enjoy life
  • involve themselves in charity work - reinforce social cohesion
  • crime rates fall - older people less likely to commit crime
  • more involved in childcare
• negative effects of ageing population

  • dependancy ratio
  • strain on NHS
  • ageism
  • one person pensioner households
• ageism


  discrimination against older people
• modernist perspectives on ageing population

  • modern society more structured
  • our identity is determined by our role in production
  • structured dependancy - the old are excluded from paid work, leaving them economically depend on families
• phillipson


  marxist

  the old are no use to capitalism as they are no longer productive

  due to this, the states become unwilling to support them so rely instead on families
• postmodernist perspectives on ageing population

  • argue structured society is now broken
  • consumption not production is now our main identity
  • due to this the old become a market for wellbeing services such as a anti-ageing products, cosmetic surgery
• hunt


  postmodernist

  we can choose a lifestyle regardless of our age

  age no longer defines who we are and how we live
• migration


  movement of people from place to place
• immigration


  movement of people into a country
• emigration


  movement of people away from a country
• net migration


  difference between number of immigrants and emigrants
• immigration

  1990 - WW2 - largest immigrant group were Irish

  1950s - black immigrants from Caribbean

  1960s - south asian immigrants

  2021 - minority ethnic groups account for 14.4% of population
• emigration


  since 1990s many have emigrated to USA, Canada, Australia

  due to economic reasons

  push factors - economic recession, unemployment

  pull factors - higher wages, better opportunities abroad
• impacts of migration

  • increasing population size - net migration = 270,000
  • dependency ratio - more immigrants working, however, have more children
  • lower age structure